FC DELCO will be running two recruitment drives to join the National Marrow Donor Program in honor of Andrew McDonough, an U-14 FC Delco soccer player stricken with Leukemia in January. He has touched many hearts and lives with his fight and his courage. Now we can all show our support for him. The first will be on May 26th at the PDA Tournament, in Zarapeth, NJ and the second on May 27th at the FC DELCO Player’s Cup Tournament, in Downingtown, PA. Both drives will take place from 10 AM to 3 PM.

We are looking for anyone between the ages of 18 and 60 who would like to enter the National Bone Marrow Registry. If you’re not eligible due to health or other restriction and still would like to contribute, we will accept any contributions you might like to make. If you’re interested and want to learn more about volunteering, just let me know and I can answer any questions you may have. Or just go to the NMDP website www.marrow.org/join.

Every day, thousands of patients suffering from blood diseases are searching for a donor. You could be the one a patient needs. Andrew and my husband, Peter, are some of the lucky ones with siblings who match them already. They don’t need to go to the “pool”. Not everyone is as fortunate.

When you become a bone marrow donor, you join more than 10 million volunteers worldwide who stand ready to give someone a future. It’s truly the easiest way to save a life!

What to expect at the recruitment drive:

Your NMDP representative will give you information, answer your questions and help you through the process:

* Complete a registration form and answer questions about your health history.
* Learn about the marrow and blood cell donation process.
* Give a swab of cheek cells. This sample will be tested for your tissue type.
* Pay to join the Registry (tax deductible donation), in some cases.
* Once your tissue type is listed on the Registry, we will contact you if you are identified as a possible match for a patient.
* Please only join if you are 100% sure you want to do this. If you are a match for someone and then say no it would be heartbreaking for the person in need.

Please don’t hesitate to call me with any questions at 610-768-0729.

Save a life. Join the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry. This is truly the easiest way to save a life!

Thank you,
Trisha E. Kelts

Volunteers needed at FC DELCO Players Cup
To help FC Delco parent Trish Kelts take care of other administrative matters surrounding the operation of the Memorial Day Weekend Bone Marrow Recruitment Drives, I’ll be scheduling the more than 70 volunteers needed to man these drives, being run at the PDA Girl’s College Showcase on Saturday, May 26th and again at the FC Delco Players Cup on Sunday, May 27th.

Twelve volunteers are needed to man each site’s (3) two-hour shifts to: set up the site, process the registrants’ paper work, prescreen applicants health history, assign qualified Donor’s id numbers, oversee the administration of cheek swabs so that donors may submit tissue samples, take down the site, and more. Anyone over 18 can volunteer to man one of these stations. All that you’ll need to know to do so will be either emailed to you ahead of time or shared once you arrive that day.

To volunteer for a two-hour shift, please reply to me via email, indicating the date/location you can help (Saturday, 5/26th drive at PDA-- exact field location TBA-- or Sunday, 5/27 drive at USTC)
AND the time slot that you’d prefer (9 a.m. - 11 a.m.; 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.; or 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ) By Thursday, May 24th, you’ll receive an email confirming your assignment, indicating exactly where you’re to report, and giving you any preliminary information that you’ll need in order to be of help.

As is usually the case, tournament fans often find themselves members of captive audiences, wondering how to spend down time before or between games. Since it will take many, many Delco families and friends to make this drive run smoothly, please consider lending that down time to help out with this very worthwhile cause. For those of you who have already indicated your desire to help, please still reply with your preferred shift time. To all others, l look forward to hearing back from you. Thanks for your support!

Susan Sherry
FC Delco Sting Parent
sesherry@aol.com